Page:The future of Africa.djvu/181



i. 14.—"I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians."

style of expression, wherein St. Paul mingles personal references with Gospel teachings, is common in his epistles. Of all the several writers of Scripture, none speaks so much and so often of himself as this Apostle; not one who uses so frequently the personal pronoun "I." In the verse which follows my text we see the same peculiarity: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." In the 11th chapter,—"I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin;" and, again,—"For I speak unto you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles." And so likewise in chapter ix. 10-20. But though this is, indeed, common with the Apostle, it is a great mistake to suppose that he is egotistical. ISTever was there a man, in all the world's history, in whom selfishness was so thoroughly mortified. So entirely conformed had he